energy – Fair Winds Reiki & Mindfulness

Reiki in a Word – Energy

Defining Reiki with the word energy cuts right to the heart of the matter. This is the aspect of Reiki that makes some people uncomfortable or even scared. It was a difficult hurdle for me at the beginning of my Reiki journey.

As I described in an earlier post, my first experience with Reiki came from curiosity about the practice and the culture behind it. If someone had said, oh, you’re training to be an energy healer, I probably would have canceled my training and walked the other way… quickly.

I wasn’t comfortable with the concept or terminology of “energy.” In the church that I grew up in, energy wasn’t acknowledged, and healing through the laying of hands was a rare event that required a pastor, a congregation, prayer, and the Holy Spirit (which is what many believe Reiki to be).

I’ve found that Reiki doesn’t belong to just one religion or one culture. It doesn’t discriminate. Reiki is a restorative energy that’s part of our natural world, and it’s available to all through intention and openness.

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More on energy: What is energy?
More on my Reiki journey: Find What ‘Resonates’ With You

Please feel free to join the discussion through comments! See something you like? Please let me know! I would love to hear from you!! 🙂

Contact Fair Winds Reiki & Mindfulness
email: laureen@fairwindsreiki.com
site: fairwindsreiki.com
phone: (530) 395-5550

Waiting for Reiki to Find Me

The first time I became aware of easing someone’s pain using energy, I didn’t even know what energy was.

There’s a saying among Reiki practitioners that you don’t find Reiki, Reiki finds you. As for many people, this was true for me, and it began long before I ever heard the word Reiki.

The first time I became aware of easing someone’s pain using energy, I didn’t even know what energy was. I was working on a cruise ship at the time, and a dear friend had hurt his ankle. He had job responsibilities all over the ship, and had been working through the pain for a week. He had been to the ship’s doctor, but still hadn’t found relief. I hated seeing him hurting.

One day he asked me to rub his ankle. I tried to talk him out of it, unsure how I could possibly make it better and fairly sure that I would make it worse. (I have the most annoying habit of touching people exactly where they’re hurting, as if I’m unconsciously drawn to those places. I used to think of it as a curse because I would end up causing them pain with an innocent hug, pat, or poke.) He asked me to please try, so I sat and lightly (extremely lightly!) rubbed the injured ankle, all the while watching his face for signs of pain.

After a while, I asked if that was enough. He gingerly moved his foot around and announced that it felt better. To be honest, I thought he was just teasing me. I really hadn’t done anything other than humor him. His words didn’t convince me, but his lack of a limp did. I didn’t know what I had done, or how I had done it, but he was pain free again.

The memory became a joke that we shared when reminiscing about ship life, and it remained a mystery with a bit of the fantastic about it. I think it was that memory that allowed me to embrace the idea of Reiki, or at least be open to it. (That and years of learning to be open through travel and working with people from all over the world.) With experience I learned that it was not Reiki that I had used, but my own energy given in compassion and love. Reiki is given in the same way, but from the infinite energy that surrounds us rather than from our own finite stores.

I talked to my old friend more recently about why he asked me to rub his ankle. He said, “I just knew that you would be able to help me.”

He knew before I did.

Fortunately, Reiki found me. And now I know, too.

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For more on energy: Semantics – What is energy?
Wondering how this fits into diverse belief systems? Try: A Question of Religion
For more of my story: My Reiki Journey

Contact Fair Winds Reiki & Mindfulness
email: laureen@fairwindsreiki.com
website: fairwindsreiki.com
phone: (530) 395-5550

What is energy?

In a discussion of the terminology used to describe Reiki and similar practices, it seems logical to start with a word that can make explaining Reiki difficult because of its connotations: the word energy.

Before being trained in Reiki, I used this term to describe how tired I was (or wasn’t). The thought of opening myself to an outside energy, or sharing energy with others, did not seem possible. (And if it was, it certainly didn’t sound wise…)

Through Reiki training, I have developed a new lens through which to examine my life’s experiences. The clearest example of energy that I can think of is the power of someone’s stare. Have you ever looked up, for no apparent reason, and locked eyes with a stranger from across the room? Without knowing it, you were probably reacting to the energy of their gaze. Another example that I like to use is the energy of nature. Many of us have visited places that have a relaxing, restorative effect on us. This is not simply due to the beauty of the scenery. It’s the energy of the place that can be felt.

Science tells us that everything is energy, which is fine in theory, but difficult to get one’s head around in reality. “It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing — a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind.” – Albert Einstein, 1948. According to Nikola Tesla, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

Through logic and science, we’ve talked ourselves into a world without miracles, yet even some of our most respected scientists believed that there was more to our reality than meets the eye. Reiki, the sharing of divine energy, is a miracle to me every time, and I’ve been blessed to see the amazing benefits it can have for those who receive it.

Reiki cannot be seen, but it can definitely be felt. Only through personal experience can this energy truly be understood and appreciated.